to refrain from embracing

by Monika Rinck

Poetry. Translated from the German by Nicholas Grindell. With linguistic sophistication and a great deal of self-irony and humor, Rinck sets in tension the most disparate ideas "along with their margins." Her tonal register shifts from harsh to vulnerable, from formal to casual and playful, from mockery to dreaminess. Her subject matter combines reflection on language and philosophy with everyday problems, animals, pop culture. And she is equally at home with Kant and Bob Dylan, Hölderlin and bar talk. The book is indeed a "tour de trance."

80 pages, Paperback

First published November 15, 2011